This chapter was so long that it had to be broken up into three parts. I hope you enjoy!
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Irene sat on the fell, with her front talons dangling off the side, as she stared up into the vast blue sky above. She let out a heavy sigh, with smoke shooting from her nose.
"Irene?" Belserion walked up to her, "I thought I'd find you out here."
She turned to look at him, then turned back to the sky, "Do you think they're doing well? I feel like we could've done more for them.."
"We did the best we could," he said, "Everything happens for a reason, but I've been longing to know why they appeared outside of Magnolia.. Maybe that's a mystery we will never get answers for, but what matters is that they are safe at home now."
"Was it wrong of me to send them away?" she asked. "Natsu was the only one who wanted to leave.. The others were heartbroken.."
"It's been seven years," Belserion said, "I'm sure they would've come back by now if they were unhappy, and Wendy visits from time to time, too. This was what's best for them."
"I thought that too.. at first.. But now, I just.. can't shake a bad feeling as of late," she admitted, "I had to cancel so many flight classes because I couldn't focus.."
"Whatever it is, we can handle it together," Belserion assured, sitting next to her.
She pressed her face into his neck, "What did I do to deserve you? No matter what happens, you always stay by my side.." she admitted. "I was a terrible Queen and yet-"
"Do not blame yourself for what happened in the past. The Fires' attack on our Kingdom was misguided. You had no part in it," Belserion stated. "Everything is in the past. The past is a place where we have no say in what happens anymore. All we can do is focus on the present, and make the future into something better."
"You're right," she said quietly.
"On a different note, Erza's ready for her first patrol. I'm sure it would mean a lot for you to see her off," Belserion said.
"Oh, that's today.." she gently rubbed her face with a talon, "I'm not ready.. She's growing up so fast," she said, eyes gleaming fondly.
"She's growing into a strong Dragon who takes so much after her mother," Belserion said fondly.
"Oh please, if anything, she takes more after you, my old friend," Irene said, "You played just as vital a role in her growth as I did."
"Perhaps. She's going with Aceron and Phantasmagoria."
"Are you sure you can't go with them?" Irene asked.
"We can't shield her from everything forever," Belserion said, "She's strong. She will be just fine."
"If you say so.. I trust her," Irene nodded.
The two made their way to the edge of the barrier, where Aceron and Phantasmagoria stood with a group of younger Dragons. Erza stood with Jellal and Freed with others like Amris standing with Venski.
"Look at all of you. Bright-eyed and ready to go out into the world," Belserion commented.
"I know! It's exciting, right?" Jellal exclaimed. Aceron chuckled, "Just for a short patrol. We'll build up gradually to the time we usually go out for, as well as test how you handle different situations."
"Oh come on. It's not as if anything is actually going to happen," Amris complained.
"You never know. You all don't know how to deal with a Feral, so we want to limit your time out there to also reduce the risk of running into one."
"And we have rules in place for what happens if we do run into a Feral," Phantasmagoria stated, "If they mean no harm, do not engage. They don't want conflict anymore than we do. If they do mean harm, you all stay behind and let us handle it."
The young Dragons all nodded.
"Alright, good," Aceron said, "Let's head out. Stay close together. If anybody breaks away for any reason, you are coming back here and getting your lacrima taken away."
With that, he turned and flew up into the air, phasing through the barrier. Phantasmagoria followed, with the young Dragons close behind.
"Don't expect to find anything exciting. It is just the first day, after all," Phantasmagoria said once they were gliding through the sky, "So don't get yourselves worked up."
"For now, point out things that stick out to you. The more obscure, the better," Aceron ordered.
"Which means no shiny stuff, Jellal," Freed said. The Heavenly Body growled at him.
"I have a question," Venski spoke up, before pointing at the sky ahead, "Does that count?"
Everyone followed his gaze, immediately spotting the problem.
The sky was set ablaze with several Fires flying around. Most of them were heading towards Magnolia.
"That's not normal!" Aceron said, "All of you, head back now- AGHH!" His wing lit up with bright, near-white flames. The metal feathers melted and fused together as he plummeted.
A large Fire dove from the smoky sky, lunging for the group. Phantasmagoria let out one of her signature shriek-roars and charged back, shooting a noxious smoke from her jaws.
"You heard them!" Erza ordered.
"We can't leave Aceron!" Amris dove towards the Steel.
"No! Go back with the others! I can stand my ground here!" Aceron shouted, flaring his good wing as he roared.
"I can't leave mom!" Venski flew after the Phantom in question.
"Ugh, those two!" Erza hissed. "Jellal, cover me. Freed, go back and send for help!"
Freed turned to do as was ordered, only to be blocked by a blast of flame.
"You go nowhere!" a second large Fire dove down, snatching Freed in their claws and throwing him to the ground.
Venski latched onto the Fire in question, and despite being only half their size, he was able to wrestle them to the ground.
"Leave mom and me to handle this! I'll protect Aceron, Amris. The rest of you need to go back to the others!" Venski shouted, pointing back to the barrier on the horizon.
"Just the two of you? You'll get yourselves killed!" Jellal exclaimed. Venski's eyes glimmered dangerously, "They can't kill a ghost!"
Phantasmagoria hovered over a group of Fires, her own large size towering over them as she let out ear-splitting shrieks, forcing them all back.
"Enough of these games!" one of them said, "Where is Irene?!"
She answered him by impaling her tail spike through his jaws.
"Have your sorry lot not hurt her enough?! You have your Prince back! She is no longer of ANY concern to you!" Phantasmagoria hissed angrily.
"This is for Queen Firesoul!" the Fires charged the Phantom. She latched her jaws onto the shoulder of one, before violently thrashing him around and using him to club down another Fire, sending the two to the ground.
She then dove towards them, and–faster than the Fires could stop her–promptly used a flash of magic on them. While Erza wasn't entirely sure of what exactly it did due to the bright flash, all that remained were a pair of smoldering skeletons.
"Remind me to stay on their good side," Jellal said, watching as Venski fired himself towards a larger Fire, engulfed with magic like a large arrow that cleaved one of their wings off.
"Phantoms are freakish.." Amris huffed.
"Yeah but those two are on our side and I'm not going to question our luck," Erza stated bluntly.
"Stop wasting time with the corpses and go for the barrier!" Atlas Flame forced himself through the group of Fires, pointing them in the same direction as the group.
Try as she might, Phantasmagoria could only get in the way so much, especially when most of the Fires are around her, keeping her away from the others flying to the barrier.
"Who is that? The miniature Irene," one of them said.
"I never knew she had a dragonet of her own!"
"Grab that Dragon! We can use her to force Irene's claws!"
"Faster!" Jellal exclaimed, "Erza, they're after you now!"
"Over my cold, dead body!" she hissed.
"Don't give them ideas!"
A large Fire descended towards them, claws outstretched. Jellal launched forward, grabbing onto Erza's shoulders, before using his magic Meteor to shoot them towards the barrier.
Freed and Amris weaved around the Fire, just narrowly making it inside. There was a thunk behind them as the Fire chasing them landed against the barrier, before taking off back to the others.
"We need to tell mom," Erza said.
"Why are they upset now?" Jellal wondered aloud, "Their beef was because of Natsu, but he's been back for seven years by now. Why wait to keep having issues?"
"Because they're Ferals!" Amris stated, "They always have to invent some kind of issue."
"Goddamn you, Amris! This is serious!" Jellal snapped, "This isn't about Ferals being brain dead or whatever you have to say. They were angry for a reason! But that reason no longer applies.."
"Freed, are you alright?" Erza asked. The Rune nodded, "Just a sore side.. Better than a broken wing," he said, rubbing his shoulder. "I can head to the infirmary while you guys discuss this with Irene."
"Let's go find her," Jellal said. "Amris, you take Freed to Porlyusica."
Erza followed Jellal as he took off, but kept her gaze on the barrier. Several Fires were crawling along it and some were even trying to break it.
'They can't break through…' she reminded herself. That didn't stop the worry.
"Mom!" Erza called. Irene was watching the barrier with fear in her eyes, "What happened out there?" she demanded.
"We were ambushed by Fires! They're charging Magnolia!" Erza said.
"Why..? Why are they back? Why again?" Irene grimaced.
Erza violently flinched when a Fire loudly bellowed and slammed against the barrier before looking up to her mother, "They can't get inside, right?"
"They.. they shouldn't be.. able to.." Irene said slowly, as if trying to assure herself as much as her daughter.
"Everything will be fine," Jellal said, but even he looked unsure. "Phantasmagoria and Venski are out there right now. They fended some of them off in order to let the rest of us escape."
"And Aceron is injured! What if none of them..?" Erza couldn't finish that thought.
"Phantasmagoria is strong and she won't let anything happen to her son, so I trust that they'll be fine. But Aceron.."
"We need to go out there and help them!" Erza said.
"There's no 'we' about this," Jellal stated bluntly, "It's you two they want, but mostly Irene. And they tried to capture you to force Irene to leave the barrier."
"And Belserion would be just as much of a target.." Irene said quietly.
"Why are they back again?" Jellal asked. Irene shook her head, "I don't know why they're even mad. They claim it was because I stole Natsu's egg, but that never happened!" she exclaimed, very distraught by this point, "I thought everything was fine when Natsu was returned.."
"We believe you, mom," Erza said, "We will figure this out."
She glanced up, spotting Phantasmagoria carrying Venski into the barrier. The Fires around her vainly tried to grab onto her, but something forced them back. Likely her magic.
Erza would never understand Phantom magic.
She landed heavily. She wasn't covered in many injuries and seemed more tired than anything.
Venski definitely looked worse for wear, not as experienced in battle as his mother. He shook himself off–dripping green blood–and settled down.
"Are you okay?" Irene immediately ran to her, leaning against her to help keep the Phantom standing. She nodded, "We are fine, but we had to leave Aceron out there.."
"We need to go back for him.." Venski said.
"We wouldn't be able to get through all those Fires," Phantasmagoria said. "Unfortunately, he'll have to handle himself.. All we can do is hope."
"Do you know why they're here?" Irene asked. "Did you get anything out of any of them?"
"One of them claimed this is over Firesoul," Phantasmagoria answered, "Their Queen."
"I've never even met Firesoul!" Irene squawked indignantly.
"What's the plan?" Jellal asked. Irene shook her head, "We need to find a place to hide the citizens in case.."
"In case.." Jellal prompted.
"In case they break through the barrier," Phantasmagoria said.
"But they can't do that… Can they?" Erza asked. Both the adults looked away, until the Phantom sighed, "They.. they can if they tried hard enough."
"So what do we do?" Erza asked.
"We have to hide the citizens, and then we try to stop them," Irene said. "I'm not letting these Fires take another home away from me."